Mutiny

The respected Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa) could not have been blunter  and more precise.

In a statement, the association described the Aquino administration’s actions subsequent to the Supreme Court ruling on the DAP as nothing short of a “mutiny” against the Constitution. These actions include President Aquino’s confrontational speeches, the move of his minions in Congress to undermine the judiciary’s fiscal autonomy and, finally, the President’s own expression of preference for constitutional amendment’s to curtail the judiciary’s “reach.”

Like most mutinies, such as the one Antonio Trillianes’ group staged a decade ago, this one seems caught in the vise of confusion.

Nothing speaks of that confusion more than the discordant utterances of the three-headed comedy act that is supposed to be speaking on behalf of the President. They are constantly conflicting in what they say.

Edwin Lacierda, appropriately gifted with the look of a deer caught in the headlights, is the most hapless of the three. Last week, in what reads like precise language, he kept open the option for no elections in 2016. That provoked such an immediate firestorm, the Palace needed to promptly assure the public some misstatement was made.

Recall that event, towards the end of Arroyo administration, when Press Secretary Jess Dureza, in an impromptu prayer before a Cabinet meeting, expressed his personal hope his president would stay longer in office. For that slip, Dureza found it necessary to resign his post immediately. Such honorable behavior is alien to this administration.

There are rumors that Lacierda is a lawyer. If that were true, the man has done an impressive job concealing his training. Factional affinity appears to have clouded his judgment. He did not realize he was issuing a call to mutiny against the constitutional order.

Mutiny against the constitutional order is precisely the political project of the Mar Roxas devotees who managed to hijack the LP. The “ruling party” is supposed to convene this week to discuss the extension of Aquino’s stay in office.

That meeting can only be a tribute to Aquino’s appalling lack of conviction. His inability to articulate clearly his own determination to step down ceremoniously on June 30, 2016 encourages his associates to continue conspiring to push the President towards an act of constitutional betrayal.

Meanwhile, days after Lacierda let the slip show, there is painstaking effort to explain it away by attributing everything to the man’s imperfect command of the Filipino language. That is a lousy excuse. After four years, there is enough evidence to show it is not imperfection in language but imperfection in thought that is this man’s problem.

I would really hate to be Lacierda’s foot. It has been the subject of abuse by being so frequently stuck in his mouth.

Unclear

Absence of clarity seems to be a contagious disease under this administration.

On the matter of term extension, the absence of clarity appears intended. That absence of clarity on other areas of policy, however, is simply unforgivable.

In the mining industry, the absence of policy clarity has been particularly disastrous. Investments have been shelved. Worse, sunk investments have been aborted by erratic applications of policy.

The costs, not only in terms of lost opportunities, but even in the massive loss of existing jobs, have been mounting.

We will recall, a couple of years ago, this administration put investments on hold while it arrives at a “mining policy.” That exercise appears open-ended. Whatever the new “mining policy” is, it has not been clarified for stakeholders. Large investments that might have created tens of thousands of jobs remain on hold.

Last July 15, 2014, the Central Luzon Mines and Geosciences Bureau arbitrarily issued suspension orders against four mining companies operating in Sta. Cruz and Candelaria, Zambales. The suspension orders were issued entirely on the basis of claims of “unsystematic mining” made by environmental groups without due diligence performed by the regulatory agencies.

Adversely affected by what they consider arbitrary applications of policy are: BenguetCorp Nickel Mine, Inc., Eramen Minerals Inc., Archipelago Minerals Inc. and Zambales Diversified Metals Corp. The four deny allegations that their activities led to siltation of rivers, farmland and seashores in the two towns.

Since the suspension order was handed down, at least 3,000 workers were deprived of incomes. Mineral exports were not realized. The local governments, who derived a major portion of their revenues from mining, are now less able to deliver services to their constituents.

There are much broader effects. The arbitrary suspension orders have created alarm and uncertainty across all mining operations nationwide mainly because the standards appear to have become arbitrary.

The four immediately affected companies have appealed their case to the DENR secretary, seeking policy clarification. They are prepared to elevate their appeal to higher authority in any eventuality.

A clearly articulated mining policy should have averted a situation like this one. The policy framework should include operational standards so that the rules of the game become more certain.

While, on the one hand, protection of the environment is a vital consideration, mining policy should make safer minerals extraction a possibility. Modern economies cannot do without extracted minerals and a modernizing economy such as ours cannot progress much without extracting nature’s gifts.

If the “mining policy” of this administration were a little better articulated, there will be less room for arbitrariness and more space for reconciling environmental concerns with economic necessity.

If that “mining policy” is still being perfected, albeit at such a protracted pace, the case of the suspended Zambales nickel miners should be an opportune event for refining operational standards.